


Pregnancy and Families

by PenShips



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-08-27 09:23:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8396248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenShips/pseuds/PenShips
Summary: Barry’s been given the task of telling Joe his daughter’s pregnant and he’s the one who knocked her up.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Again another little westallen fic previously posted on my blog. Also, consider this an embarrassing tale Joe tells the twins when they are of age. Enjoy :)

Iris tells him she’s pregnant when they were watching her favourite program, a vague dramatic portrayal of reality with frequent betrayals and long lost siblings. He’d gone to get the popcorn and when he came back she’d blurted it out over a character’s hysterical screaming. All the oxygen in the air had been sucked out and Barry didn’t think he’d never be able to breathe properly again. He can’t remember much but he does remember it was a rainy day; the soft drizzle had been tapping at the windows as she sat on the couch, legs folded under her, looking nervous and he couldn’t stop picturing her in her final trimester.

And that’s when it had truly hit him. Iris West, the girl of his dreams, is having his child. He’s ashamed to say that he had collapsed onto the couch in shock and awe, turning into a blubbering mess which made a sly opening for Iris to weasel the responsibility of telling Joe onto him.

True to his word, a few weeks later, he knocks on Joe’s door and stands to the side. There is sweat stains under his shirt, of this Barry is sure, and if his heart doesn’t stop beating so fast, he is going to start buzzing all over the place. On cue his hands start to vibrate. He tries to contain the vibration with his other free hand and it quells to being unnoticeable but he can still feel the buzz.

‘Barry?’ Joe asks curiously. He’s standing in the doorway, beer in his hand and football commentary blaring from the television with an eyebrow cocked. ‘You do remember you have a key, right?’

A nervous shout of laugh escapes him. ‘Yeah,’ he smiles. ‘It just felt informal to-’

‘Man Joe, I don’t understand how you can’t stand pineapple on pizza. It’s like Heaven!’

Barry blinks owlishly and cranes his neck to see further into the house. Joe steps aside and ushers him in. Seated on the couch, with a beer in his hand and a pizza slice in the other is Cisco. He grins at Barry from his seat and informs him that he was just going to call him. Barry manages a high pitched whine in response and if things couldn’t get any worse, Caitlin emerges from the kitchen.

‘Oh Barry,’ she says. ‘I see Cisco called you!’ She turns back towards the kitchen. ‘Iris, guess who finally made it!’

Nope. Things got way worse.

Iris pokes her head around the corner, wide-eyed and gestures for Barry to join her in the kitchen. Caitlin smiles at him as he passes her and he’s unsure whether he manages to smile back or just bear his teeth at her. He barely has enough time to think about it when he’s yanked into the kitchen and shoved into a seat by the breakfast bar.

‘You didn’t tell my dad?!’ Iris hisses.

She looks beautiful, like a Valkyrie incarnate with her grimace and narrowed eyes. Even in anger, she radiates this glows that Barry can’t help but be entrapped by it. It isn’t until he feels a light smack to his arm that he realises she’s still gesturing wildly and whispering furiously.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ he says, standing up and resting his hands on her shoulder. ‘I know I was supposed to tell your dad yesterday but he had a gun and I’m not sure I can defeat a bullet backed up by fatherly fury.’

She rolls her eyes. ‘Barry, if there is one person in this whole world that my dad doesn’t mind dating me, it’s probably you,’ she smiles and tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. ‘He’ll probably hug-tackle you.’

‘Dating is one thing,’ Barry counters. ‘Having a baby is another thing.’

‘Having a what?’ Joe demands, his voice low and harsh.

Standing by the kitchen door is Joe and from the look on his face, he’d heard every word. Behind him is Cisco and Caitlin but their faces are obscured so he can’t see their expression. Barry grins nervously and manoeuvres himself behind Iris.

‘W-Well, umm, Iris and I are having a baby! Surprise!’

‘You slept with my daughter?’ Joe roars.

At first he’s a little confused; surely Joe knows what modern couples get up to but the disappointment at having hurt Joe’s feelings and fear at his reaction eclipses his confusion. 

‘I-I didn’t, well, I m-mean w-we did,’ he stammers, the vibration in his hand starts up again and travels to engulf the upper half of his body. ‘I-’

‘Ha!’

He’s interrupted by a snort of laughter from Caitlin and then a sharp shushing noise from Cisco. Barry furrows his eyebrows and tries to spot them behind Joe but they appear to be hiding. When he glances back to Joe, his face is filled with mirth; eyes sparkling, a huge grin on his face, his cheeks reddening from all the joy.

And then it hits home.

‘You know!’ he accused. ‘You told them, Iris!’

‘I wasn’t going to wait forever, Barry,’ Iris quips and smiles when he mock-glares at her.

Joe laughs. ‘Of course I know!’ he says. ‘I know everything. Now come here and give me a hug, I’m gonna be a grandpa!’

Joe hugs him tightly. He’s briefly reminded of the nights as a young child when he woke up screaming. Joe would always be there to hug and comfort him till he wasn’t scared anymore. It used to make him feel safe as though nothing could ever hurt him and somehow it still does. When he’s released from the hug, Cisco moves forward and swoops him into another one.

‘Promise me this,’ he says. ‘If your kid gets superspeed, I get to nickname them, right?’

Barry laughs. ‘Is there anyone else?’

Caitlin swarms him next, hugging him just as tightly as Joe. ‘You are a very clueless man, Barry Allen,’ she scolds him. ‘You better take care of Iris. We’ve never seen a metahuman baby so you’ll need-’

‘No medical talk, Caitlin,’ he tells her. ‘We have a life outside work, remember?’

‘Not for me when it’s a little baby metahuman we’re talking about,’ she laughs, making a beeline for Iris.

They look as though they are returning to a conversation they’d abandoned when he interrupted with his cowardly knock on the front door. To give them privacy, Barry sneaks out with Cisco and Joe. He watches them wearily as they take their seats in front of the television. Cisco sprawls off, abandoning his beer for another slice of pizza while Joe relaxes, sipping at his bottle.

‘How long have you known?’

‘Two days ago,’ Joe answers.

‘Today,’ Cisco says.

‘Iris told you?’

‘She wanted to take the burden off,’ Joe smiles. ‘Felt guilty about making you do it but I stopped her from telling you it was done.’

‘Yeah,’ Cisco agrees. ‘It was so much fun letting you freak out like that.’

‘Wasn’t fun for me,’ Barry grumbles. ‘Besides, I’m happy the pressure is over.’

Cisco grins at him. ‘Don’t you have to tell your dad?’

‘That you’ve knocked up my daughter while you’re both unmarried,’ supplies Joe, a mischievous grin that matches Cisco’s spreads across his face.

The buzzing in Barry’s hand starts up again. ‘Oh no,’ is all he can say over the peals of laughter.


End file.
